Situation-aware personal information management for a mobile device

1. An article comprising a non-transitory tangible machine-readable medium that stores a program, the program being executable by a server machine to perform a method to provide situation-awareness to a user of a mobile device, the method comprising: receiving first information identifying a first time, and a starting location; receiving second information identifying a second time, and an ending location; receiving third information indicative of a recommended vehicle route from the starting location to the ending location, the third information also including data associated with traffic conditions along the recommended vehicle route; and based on the first, second and third information, generating fourth information for delivery to a mobile device to indicate a latest departure time from the starting location to ensure that the user of the mobile device can arrive at the ending location at the second time via the recommended vehicle route; the latest departure time being a time in the future; the fourth information adapted to generate a countdown timer widget for display on the mobile device in association with a route map; the countdown timer widget including, when displayed on the mobile device, a first display portion, and a second display portion, the first display portion representing a cushion indicating a time period between the first time and the latest departure time, and the second display portion representing a travel time over the recommended vehicle route given the traffic conditions, the first and second display portions being juxtaposed with respect to each other to form a visual timer; the first display portion reducing in size as the current time approaches the latest departure time to provide a visual indication that the cushion is expiring; based on progress toward the ending location, generating fifth and sixth information for delivery to the mobile device, the fifth information adapted to generate display of an indication that the user will not arrive at the ending location prior to the second time, and the sixth information adapted to generate a notification menu; upon receipt of data entered into the notification menu, generating a notification.

2. The article as described in claim 1 wherein the first display portion is displayed in a first color, and the second display portion is displayed in a second color.

3. The article as described in claim 1 wherein the countdown timer widget also includes a third display portion, the third display portion indicating an incremental traffic delay over historic traffic for the recommended vehicle route.

4. The article as described in claim 3 wherein each of the first, second and third display portions of the countdown time widget are displayed in different colors.

5. The article as described in claim 1 wherein the traffic conditions include one of: real-time traffic conditions, predicted traffic conditions based on historic traffic conditions, and combinations thereof.

6. The article as described in claim 1 wherein the second information is obtained from a personal information manager (PIM) associated with the mobile device.

7. The article as described in claim 1 wherein the fifth information is an alert.

8. The article as described in claim 1 wherein the first time is a future time.

9. The article as described in claim 1 wherein the method further includes providing sixth information indicative of a predicted weather condition along at least a portion of the recommended vehicle route at the latest departure time.

10. Apparatus, comprising: a processor; a non-transitory tangible machine-readable medium holding computer program instructions executed by the processor to perform the following operations: receiving first information identifying a first time, and a starting location; receiving second information identifying a second time, and an ending location; receiving third information indicative of a recommended vehicle route from the starting location to the ending location, the third information also including data associated with traffic conditions along the recommended vehicle route; and based on the first, second and third information, generating fourth information for delivery to a mobile device to indicate a latest future departure time from the starting location to ensure that the user of the mobile device can arrive at the ending location at the second time via the recommended vehicle route, the latest departure time being a time in the future; the fourth information adapted to generate a countdown timer widget for display on the mobile device in association with a route map; the countdown timer widget including, when displayed on the mobile device, a first display portion, and a second display portion, the first display portion representing a cushion indicating a time period between the first time and the latest departure time, and the second display portion representing a travel time over the recommended vehicle route given the traffic conditions, the first and second display portions being juxtaposed with respect to each other to form a visual timer; the first display portion reducing in size as the current time approaches the latest departure time to provide a visual indication that the cushion is expiring; based on progress toward the ending location, generating fifth and sixth information for delivery to the mobile device, the fifth information adapted to generate display of an indication that the user will not arrive at the ending location prior to the second time, and the sixth information adapted to generate a notification menu; upon receipt of data entered into the notification menu, generating a notification.

11. The apparatus as described in claim 10 wherein the countdown timer widget also includes a third display portion, the third display portion indicating an incremental traffic delay over historic traffic for the recommended vehicle route.

12. The apparatus as described in claim 10 wherein the operations further include providing sixth information indicative of a predicted weather condition along at least a portion of the recommended vehicle route at the latest departure time.

13. A mobile device, comprising: a display interface; a processor; and a non-transitory tangible machine-readable medium holding computer program instructions executed by the processor to perform the following operations: receiving information adapted to generate a countdown timer widget for display on the display interface in association with a route map; and displaying the countdown timer widget, the countdown timer widget including a first display portion, and a second display portion, the first display portion representing a cushion indicating a time period between the first time and the latest departure time, and the second display portion representing a travel time over the recommended vehicle route given the traffic conditions, the first and second display portions being juxtaposed with respect to each other to form a visual timer; the first display portion reducing in size as the current time approaches the latest departure time to provide a visual indication that the cushion is expiring.

14. The mobile device as described in claim 13 wherein the operations further include displaying traffic conditions along at least a portion of the recommended vehicle route.

15. The mobile device as described in claim 13 wherein the operations further include displaying weather conditions along at least a portion of the recommended vehicle route.

16. The mobile device as described in claim 13 wherein the operations further include displaying turn-by-turn directions for at least a portion of the recommended vehicle route.